Staff health 'should be priority'

06 July, 2007

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According to Ipsos MORI research, commissioned by Investors in People, over a third of employees in the retail sector (37%) believe their employer needs to do more to improve the health and well- being of employees at work.

A nationally representative quota sample of around 900 working adults were interviewed between 8 February and 22 March 2007.More than four in 10 of all those questioned (42%) felt that if their organisation took steps to improve their personal heath and well-being at work, it would increase job satisfaction; 32% felt that it would boost their motivation; and 23% said it would improve their productivity and performance."At the bottom line, an unhealthy, unhappy workforce will also be uncommitted and unproductive," said Simon Jones, acting chief executive at Inves- tors in People UK. "If employers don't address this, they will see a negative impact, both on individuals and the performance of the business."
Respondents said symptoms of an unhealthy workplace included high turnover of staff (51%), low staff morale (50%), absenteeism (35%), low productivity (35%) and high stress (35%).